SECTION 8
(Pauloma Parva continued)
"Sauti said, 'O Brahmana, Chyavana, the son of Bhrigu, begot
a son in the womb of his wife Sukanya. And that son was the illustrious Pramati
of resplendent energy. And Pramati begot in the womb of Ghritachi a son called
Ruru. And Ruru begot on his wife Pramadvara a son called Sunaka. And I shall
relate to you in detail, O Brahmana, the entire history of Ruru of abundant
energy. O listen to it then in full!
"Formerly there was a great Rishi called Sthulakesa possessed
of ascetic power and learning and kindly disposed towards all creatures. At
that time, Viswavasu, the King of the Gandharvas, it is said, had intimacy with
Menaka, the celestial dancing-girl. And the Apsara, Menaka, when her time was
come, brought forth an infant near the hermitage of Sthulakesa. And dropping
the newborn infant on the banks of the river, Menaka, the Apsara, being destitute
of pity and shame, went away. And the Rishi, Sthulakesa, of great ascetic
power, discovered the infant lying forsaken in a lonely part of the river-side.
And he perceived that it was a female child, bright as the offspring of an
Immortal and blazing, as it were, with beauty: And the great Brahmana,
Sthulakesa, the first of Munis, seeing that female child, and filled with
compassion, took it up and reared it. And the lovely child grew up in his holy
habitation, the noble-minded and blessed Rishi Sthulakesa performing in due
succession all the ceremonies beginning with that at birth as ordained by the
divine law. And because she surpassed all of her sex in goodness, beauty, and
every quality, the great Rishi called her by the name of Pramadvara. And the
pious Ruru having seen Pramadvara in the hermitage of Sthulakesa became one
whose heart was pierced by the god of love. And Ruru by means of his companions
made his father Pramati, the son of Bhrigu, acquainted with his passion. And
Pramati demanded her of the far-famed Sthulakesa for his son. And her foster-father
betrothed the virgin Pramadvara to Ruru, fixing the nuptials for the day when
the star Varga-Daivata (Purva-phalguni) would be ascendant.
"Then within a few days of the time fixed for the nuptials,
the beautiful virgin while at play with companions of her own sex, her time
having come, impelled by fate, trod upon a serpent which she did not perceive
as it lay in coil. And the reptile, urged to execute the will of Fate, violently
darted its envenomed fangs into the body of the heedless maiden. And stung by
that serpent, she instantly dropped senseless on the ground, her colour faded
and all the graces of her person went off. And with dishevelled hair she became
a spectacle of woe to her companions and friends. And she who was so agreeable
to behold became on her death what was too painful to look at. And the girl of
slender waist lying on the ground like one asleep--being overcome with the
poison of the snake-once more became more beautiful than in life. And her
foster-father and the other holy ascetics who were there, all saw her lying
motionless upon the ground with the splendour of a lotus. And then there came
many noted Brahmanas filled with compassion, and they sat around her. And Swastyatreya,
Mahajana, Kushika, Sankhamekhala, Uddalaka, Katha, and Sweta of great renown,
Bharadwaja, Kaunakutsya, Arshtishena, Gautama, Pramati, and Pramati's son Ruru,
and other inhabitants of the forest, came there. And when they saw that maiden
lying dead on the ground overcome with the poison of the reptile that had
bitten her, they all
wept filled with compassion. But Ruru, mortified beyond measure,
retired from the scene.'"
So ends the eighth section of the Pauloma Parva of the Adi Parva
of the blessed Mahabharata.
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